Clear Creek-Amana clips Fairfield season with big fourth quarter

TIFFIN ? Fairfield held Clear Creek-Amana to its second-lowest point total of the season, but couldn?t find enough second half offense for themselves to get past the Clippers Tuesday night.

Fairfield (4-16) was downed 42-32 in the Class 3A District 6 opener to put the final punctuation on the 2010 season while CC-A moves onto the district semifinal Thursday night vs. Williamsburg. Williamsburg advanced Monday with a 77-60 win over South Tama.

The Trojans took a 19-18 lead into the halftime break and scored seven of the first eight points in the third quarter to take a 26-19 lead. However, it was all downhill from there as CC-A put together a quick 10-0 run to take a 29-26 lead with six minutes remaining and cruised from there, hitting 9-11 free throws down the stretch. The Clippers made 23-29 from the foul stripe in the game.

?We just didn?t take care of the ball and turned it over way too much,? said Fairfield head coach Jeff Ebling. ?I thought we controlled the tempo for most of the game, but we couldn?t finish inside. We?re just not capable of coming back from that.?

In all, CC-A outscored the Trojans 23-6 to close out the game after the Trojans held their biggest lead.

?A lot of these guys haven?t been in that situation before, but we have to learn how to handle it. We didn?t do that tonight,? Ebling said.

After winning five games a season ago, Fairfield finishes the year with four wins.

Grant Curran led Fairfield with 11 points followed by six apiece from seniors Josh Hyde and Willie Ghent and sophomore Davis Lowenberg. Drew Disterhoft paced the Clippers with 11 points.

?From the beginning of the year, we improved tremendously, and we have the program moving in the right direction,? said the second-year coach. ?It?s going to take time in the offseason, and I think we?re taking the right steps.

?We have to learn how to win these types of games, then we?ll turn the corner.?

Williamsburg will play CC-A Thursday at Iowa City West while Washington plays No. 1-ranked Mount Pleasant at Burlington in other District 6 action. Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.